“In conversation with Campaign Middle East on its ‘On The Record’ podcast, Suad Merchant, Global Head of Brand, Partnerships, and Corporate Communications at Mashreq, shares the bank’s long-term brand approach, details of campaign rollouts, and finding the balance between creativity and technology to empower better storytelling.
She also opens up about simplifying complex narratives, and how the bank has put hyper-personalisation, transparency, and authenticity into practice.
Customer-centric and people-first creative authentic storytelling
Although Mashreq is one of the oldest banks in the region, it behaves like a startup, with customer-centricity at the core of everything it does, Merchant explains.
“For instance, the Rise Every Day campaign – and brand approach – is a promise from the bank that they will support customers irrespective of where they are in their journey. Right from the start, from when they are getting their first home loan, applying for their first credit card, starting their first business, or facing challenges along the way as they are running their own business,” Merchant says.
This concept is communicated through the storytelling of real-life people – not influencers or celebrities – who not only resonate the values and principles of the brand, but have demonstrated how they have overcome challenges in real life. ”
A good example of this is Mashreq’s brand ambassador Zainab Al Eqabi, an MBC host, a pharmacist, a philanthropist, and a voice for the people of determination, who lost her leg when a detonator exploded in Iraq, but now ‘rises every day’ with her prosthetic leg and inspires other people of determination along the way,” she adds.
Defining KPIs and measurable objectives at Mashreq
Merchant also delves deeper, sharing insights on clearly defining and tracking KPIs and measurable objectives to evaluate marketing campaigns and initiatives.
Merchant, who calls the KPIs ‘guiding lights’ based on the objectives of the brand within its long-term journey, whether it is in terms of mass awareness, brand love and consideration, customer acquisition, and retaining existing customers, among others.
“I have two favourite KPI’s that I track for each of the campaigns, and my team already knows that these are the things that I’m going to be looking at,” Merchant reveals. “The first is in terms of social sentiment. Social listening is easily available today – whether the customers are interacting with a piece of content positively; whether they are sitting on the fence and are neutral; and the most important one is when there’s negative feedback. The negative bits are where the conversations arise; where we have the opportunity to improve customer experience.”
She adds, “The second one, which I believe really is really impactful, and I call it the ultimate testament is: Will a customer recommend your brand? Those are the two KPIs that I would track.”
AI, data privacy, operational efficiencies and more
Merchant also discusses how artificial intelligence (AI) is driving better market insights, enabling better decision-making from vast qualitative customer data, and empowering a better comprehension of customer behaviours, while maintaining data privacy, transparency, and operational efficiencies.
For more such insights from a very intriguing conversation, watch the full video above.
CREDITS:
Host: Anup Oommen, Editor, Campaign Middle East
Guest: Suad Merchant, Global Head of Brand, Partnerships, and Corporate Communications at Mashreq, Videography: Mark Mathew, Creative Content Producer, Motivate Create
Production: Rupashree Ravi, Content Producer, Motivate Create
Studio: Ahmed Abdelwahab, Studio Manager, Motivate Media Group
